WULF Stock Soars After Morgan Stanley Price Target Hike Suggests 242% Upside – RIOT Fails to Follow Amid Market Selloff

• Morgan Stanley's new price target of $72 on WULF shares implies a roughly 242% upside from the stock’s opening price on Wednesday.
• On the other end, the firm lowered its price target on Mara Holdings to $5.50 and kept an 'Underweight' rating, while Citi raised its Riot Platforms target to $28 with a 'Buy' rating.
• The broader market weakened after President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was "over," contributing to a risk-off move in equities.

TeraWulf (WULF) shares held up against a broader market selloff in morning trade on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock, while two of the largest ‘pivoting’ Bitcoin (BTC) miners, Mara Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) fell alongside the wider market after President Trump said at the NATO summit that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is "over."

Morgan Stanley raised its TeraWulf target to $72 from $66.50, keeping an ‘Overweight’ rating, as per TheFly. On the other end, the firm cut its Mara Holdings target to $5.50 from $7 and maintained an ‘Underweight’ stance. 

Citi separately raised its Riot Platforms target to $28 from $21 with a Buy rating, though the upgrade wasn't enough to offset the drag from the broader risk-off tone.

WULF's stock was up over 12% in morning trade, while MARA’s stock fell almost 2% and RIOT’s stock traded flat. WULF’s stock was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits on Wednesday morning, with retail sentiment trending in ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by ‘extremely high’ levels of chatter.

Meanwhile, chatter around MARA and RIOT’s stock stayed at ‘high’ levels over the past day, but one saw a dip in retail sentiment. Sentiment around RIOT fell to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ territory, while sentiment around MARA stayed in the ‘neutral’ zone. 

Price Targets Paint Diverging Outlooks

At TeraWulf's new Morgan Stanley target of $72, the stock would need to climb roughly 242% from its $21.06 opening price Tuesday. Even against the stock's average analyst price target of $38.59, that implies upside of about 83%. 

The outlook for Mara Holdings tells a different story at Morgan Stanley's lowered price target of $5.50. The stock would need to fall about 53% from its $11.73 open on Wednesday, sitting well below its $18.40 average price target, which itself implies a roughly 57% upside.

Riot Platforms sits closer to its average target, with Citi's new $28 figure implying upside of about 32% from its $21.23 open, versus roughly 37% upside to its $29.15 average target.

The divergence in price targets mirrors the wider gap in year-to-date performance across the three miners. 

TeraWulf's stock is up 85% so far this year, the strongest performer of the group, while Riot Platforms has gained 63%. Mara Holdings, by contrast, has climbed just under 30% over the same period.

TeraWulf's Anthropic Lease Draws More Upgrades

The uptick in WULF’s stock follows a wave of analyst upgrades tied to TeraWulf's $19 billion, 20-year lease deal with Anthropic.

Needham raised its TeraWulf price target to $33 from $28 on Tuesday, citing the Anthropic lease, and maintained a 'Buy' rating. Needham analyst John Todaro said the company signed "one of the more attractive leases in the sector," which showed that demand remained robust.

Rosenblatt also increased its price target on TeraWulf to $30 from $27, with a 'Buy' rating on the shares. The new contract with Anthropic is "a significant positive" that validates the company's brownfield development strategy and increases confidence in its ability to attract top-tier hyperscaler tenants, analysts told investors.

Read also: Iran War Fears Drag Bitcoin Lower After Trump Declares Ceasefire Is ‘Over’

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com